


First Bark, Then Bright

by astudyinfic



Series: A December of Ty and Zane [18]
Category: Cut & Run - Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux
Genre: Author regrets nothing, Decorating for Christmas, Gratuitous use of puns, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-19
Updated: 2018-12-19
Packaged: 2019-09-22 17:33:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17064098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astudyinfic/pseuds/astudyinfic
Summary: Zane has a brilliant idea for decorating the shop.  Ty questions why he ever fell in love with his punny husband.Day 18:Trees





	First Bark, Then Bright

Brick and Morter Books was closed on Mondays.  The front door, anyway. The back door was never closed, for better or worse.  But as far as customers were concerned, they closed on Mondays so that they could stay open on the weekends, easily their busiest days of the week.

That didn’t mean that Ty and Zane weren’t working, even when the store was closed.  With Christmas just around the corner, Zane got the idea they should decorate the window display for the holidays.  The TNT box for the kitties was adorable but didn’t really scream  _ holiday spirit _ .  

With minimal complaining, Ty even went along with the idea and was dutifully stringing lights from the ceiling while Zane wandered around, collecting an odd assortment of books, piling them all up near the window.  

When he got down from the ladder, Ty looked over the different titles, expecting to find holiday classics.  Instead, he found the strangest things from  _ A Tale of Two Cities _ to  _ The Davinci Code _ and  _ How to Talk to Your Cat About Gun Safety _ (Ty’s favorite book at the moment).  “Is there are rhyme or reason to these selections, darlin’?” Ty asked, holding up a copy of  _ Life of Pi _ .  He still didn’t understand the way his husband’s mind worked all the time, even after so many years together, so if there was a pattern to his selections, Ty wasn’t seeing it.

“Not really.”  Zane shrugged and plucked the book from Ty’s hand.  “I just needed books of different sizes so I walked around and picked random ones that we had duplicates of.”  Technically a pattern, Ty almost pointed out but didn’t want to get into that conversation right now. Instead, he asked, “So why do you need different sizes?”

“To make a tree.”

Ty blinked, looked at the books and then back at Zane.  “You have that backward, Garrett. Books are made of trees, not the other way around.”

Zane rolled his eyes, laughing quietly to himself.  “You are a regular comedian, Grady. Now, get your ass up here and help me.”  He moved over, pushing several stacks of books away to make room for Ty to join him in the display.  

“Explain to me how we make a tree out of books,” Ty said once they were both up there.  He was willing to humor Zane, even as what he said was kind of crazy. Zane was the best kind of crazy so Ty enjoyed when he was pulled along for the ride.  (He was pretty sure Zane felt the same way about him. One of a million reasons they were so damn perfect for one another.)

Step by step, Zane explained how to lay the books out in a circle, building up until it looked mostly like a tree.  “I saw it at the library a few years ago. It can’t be that hard, right?”

One hour and several cave-ins later, they were not further along than when they started.  “What made you think we could do this?” Ty grumbled, barely restraining himself from kicking a book across the room.  It would only serve to upset Zane and then they would be frustrated and angry. While that generally led to some pretty fantastic sex, it wouldn’t get the shop decorated any faster. 

“I thought about it the other day when a book fell on my head.  It seemed like a great way to decorate but I’m sort of regretting it right now.  I can only blame my shelf!” Zane barely even looked up, struggling to keep the book tree from falling in on itself again. 

At first, Ty didn’t think he’d heard correctly.  Then he remembered this was his husband he was talking to and he knew he definitely heard correctly.  Groaning, Ty threw a book at his obstinate husband’s head. “We agreed! No puns on the weekend!”

“It’s Monday, doll.”  As Ty wound up to throw another book at him, Zane warned, “And if you knock this over, you can sleep in this display for the next week.”  

Ty handed the book to Zane in a huff, glaring as Zane placed it on the tree.  By the time they got it set up and stable, even Ty could admit it did look good.  Most likely Jiminy and Cricket would knock it over before any customer saw it, but for a brief and shining moment, it looked perfect.  “Wait! I know just the thing,” he mumbled, heading back into the store, grabbing a strand of lights from the box he’d been using earlier.

They wound the lights around, and when plugged in, it looked perfect.  “Okay, this was a good idea. I can admit it,” Ty said with a nod. “It will definitely attract attention.”

“Well, they say the Christmas tree trend started because people thought it would spruce things up a bit.”  Zane couldn’t hold back his smirk that time, as he wrapped an arm around Ty’s waist. 

Ty squirmed trying to get away but Zane held him fast.  “God damn it, Lone Star! That was just terrible. You’re not allowed to touch me anymore, you Noel it all.”  They both laughed and Ty turned to wrap his arms behind Zane’s neck. “You are such a bad influence on me.”

“Yes, but after a couple more lessons in puns, you will be a master, then think all the places Yule go.”

“PUN PENALTY!”

Zane laughed and kissed Ty firmly.  “Too late for that, Meow Mix. Now go finish hanging the lights.  All put the final touches on this and then we can meet upstairs. I’ll jingle your bells.”

“Why do I love you again?” Ty groaned.  

Zane shrugged and kissed Ty once more before patting him on the ass and sending him towards the back of the store.  “That’s a question for another time. For now, get back to work.”

“Fine,” Ty sighed.  “You’re lucky you’re pretty.”

“No, you’re lucky I’m pretty!” Zane countered.  And well, Ty really couldn’t argue with that.

**Author's Note:**

> Come yell at me on [tumblr](http://astudyinfic.tumblr.com), [pillowfort](https://www.pillowfort.io/astudyinfic) or [twitter](http://twitter.com/astudyinfic)
> 
> Also, we made a [Cut & Run discord channel](https://discord.gg/KFfErkb) if anyone is interested in joining and yelling at us about the books we all love.


End file.
